Hey GulliverI don't suppose there's much point in posting a tutorial on Hyperfocal Distance anytime soon

AllTodays Tip -

The 10-Step Secret of Success (without knowing why)

1. Take your camera out of the Box (with thanks to Rocker's HID)2. Put a battery in the camera (unless its a box brownie with or without bellows)3. Turn it on & make sure the time/date setting is correct & check you have a memory card installed4. Point it at something you like and shoot5. Check it out - if its good, go to 76. Delete last image and go to 47. Had enough? then go to 8. Want more? goto 48. Turn the camera off9. Put it back in the box.10. If your images are as good as Farmboy's, upload them to DunLaoghaireCounty.ie

M.

P.s. Watch out for new topic coming soon. "Fly Your Own Jumbo - How Autopilot Can Avoid all those Nasty Manuals"

If you have a Smart Phone, save you Camera Manual as a pdf file on your phone. That way, you'll only be a click away from help when you're out and about. Even if you don't have your camera with you, the phone file gives you the opportunity to browse the manual during quiet moments. No excuses for not reading it now.

I am missing your tips. I brought the camera on holliers and got a few shots..not bad for me. Went and got a connection to down load them to my computer and soon I'll be ready to put up a picture here. But, I am missing your tips...I had HID looking in and thought he pretends to know a lot...he is learning from you too. Grudgin' respect but, respect!

I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.William Allen White

I'm back - having spent an SLR-free two weeks abroad. I deliberately left my 'big' Canon and various lenses at home, choosing instead to pack my "little" Canon (Ixus 220 HS) to test a theory (proposed on this site) that a plain old point and click is all you need.

Yeh Strum I did post photos like that in the UFO topic before and I thought I was shooting the moon this time.Now that you have mentioned it -It does look like a ....ahhh no... wont go down that road..........well not here on this topic anyway

sent from my PC and typed on a keyboard (old fashioned black colour) using three fingers

At the outset, can I say that the most important "feature" of any camera is the photographer – those “Farmboys” of this world who have the keen eye and compositional skill to take stunning photos of anything regardless of equipment. That said, here are my personal reflections on being handcuffed to a Compact for a holiday abroad

FORBurden – Sheer ease of carrying round. & my cabin bagage was no longer confined to just camera equipment. Features - modern Compacts are now packed with almost as much sophistication as a top-of-the-range SLR (Exposure, ISO, autofucus, self-timers, scene configuration etc. Getting in the picture – having third parties take snap of you is far easier. Many passers-by have little understanding how to use (or steady) an SLR. And my SLR is callibrated for my eyesight so a normal sighted person will see a blurr. Most people are well-versed in use of compacts. (I had a mini tripod, just in case I needed to self-administer)

AGAINSTLens selection – very difficult to control dept of field with relatively short compact lens. (Not an issue with landscapes)Lens Hood – a minor concern in bright sunlight (lens flare) Camera presentation – live view (with arms outstretched) v viewfinder (camera hugged to face) is a major cause of shakey photosAutofocus - in low light conditions was very troublsome Flash - hopeless beyond a few meters.Anxiety – with pre-configured settings for everything I had this constant feeling that I wasn’t really in control. Kept wondering whether I might be better off just buying some picture postcards. Or maybe this was just begrudgery – a realisation that my considerable investment in top end SLR equipment has not resulted in my enjoying such a considerable advantage

But – overall - I have to admit, as a walkaround camera, the benefits of the Compact far outweighed any disadvantages. My only serious problems were missed opportunities to capture a volcanic eruption (from a bouncing boat in the dark) and a fireworks display.

First of all I'd like to thank you folks for taking the time to put so much into this topic. Cheers for that.

Ok, the photo below. The top photo is mine and the bottom one from a professional photographer. The venue and lighting are exactly the same, same night, different Band. He used a Nikon, don't know what Model but he told me it cost 3500 quid.My question is. Is the quality of his photo due to the Camera he has, a special lens or Filter, or / and Photoshop?Mine is just as I took it with the very slightest hint of contrast, and I also took photos from the same angle as he did but I don't get the reflections on the backdrop and the lighting in his is much better. His might look a little blurred but that's because I stole the frame from a slideshow.

For starters I have to take issue with your acceptance that the bottom image is better.

The ambient blue lighting gives the image a certain atmosphere but I would suggest that there are some features of the pro's that would have been better done withouta) the faces are not that clearly definedb) the shadows (caused by stage lighting) are more a distraction than an artistic attribute.c) timing could be better - who's that hiding behind the harmonica

The top picture is much crisper and there's a richness to the colours in the artists clothing and instruments. The absence of dominant stage lighting undoubtedly helped.

I'm betting -a) the bottom image was taken with a fast lens (wide aperture) which avoided the need for a flash - something the artists welcome - and so doesnt neutralise the shadows cast by the stage lighting coming from the far leftb) the top pic was taken with a flash and any shadows from the camera are lost in the backdrop

This post is about the importance of examining and considering various options for a picture.

Suppose I was given a commission to try to capture both (Red and Green) Dun Laoghaire lighthouses together with the Ringsend chimneys in the same picture.

My camera is a Canon SX40 with 35x zoom, so there is no need to worry about changing lenses or the focal length of lenses or any of that. Just press the zoom button and the motor takes care of everything. The 4 pictures below are taken with the "Auto" setting, so it is just a point-and-shoot with zoom

Here is the first option. This is taken from beside the Forty Foot with the lens extended almost fully.

Not an interesting picture…. but if there is a dominant item, it is the Ringsend power station and chimneys, which appear to be much larger than the lighthouses. The green lighthouse is just barely visible.

This is the second option. It catches the chimneys between the pier ends of the harbour. This was taken from 2/3 of the way down the east pier. It might have been better if I had come back a bit on the pier to include that Ruffian-class boat fully in the picture, giving the picture greater depth – or moved further towards the end of the pier so as to remove the boat altogether.

My third option is near the east pier (red) lighthouse – The green lighthouse is caught in a roof valley on the left, while the chimneys look far away and small on the right

My fourth option would have been within the walls of the pier-end but the gate was closed. In the circumstances, I opted to go around the back of the pier, and pull back the zoom to the widest angle.The wide angle results in the fact that the chimneys are just pin-sized items on the horizon

(I hope that Strum will excuse me for posting 4 pics)

Don’t consider any one option as better or worse – just different, and potentially conveying a different message. Which message would you want to deliver with your picture?

I ONLY RECOMMEND a Maximum of five photos per post as I have found over the years the page will load as normal. Any more and it takes the page longer to load. See Rockers recent post where she has to wait forever for the videos pages to open. Same thing.

For starters I have to take issue with your acceptance that the bottom image is better.

The ambient blue lighting gives the image a certain atmosphere but I would suggest that there are some features of the pro's that would have been better done withouta) the faces are not that clearly definedb) the shadows (caused by stage lighting) are more a distraction than an artistic attribute.c) timing could be better - who's that hiding behind the harmonica

The top picture is much crisper and there's a richness to the colours in the artists clothing and instruments. The absence of dominant stage lighting undoubtedly helped.

I'm betting -a) the bottom image was taken with a fast lens (wide aperture) which avoided the need for a flash - something the artists welcome - and so doesnt neutralise the shadows cast by the stage lighting coming from the far leftb) the top pic was taken with a flash and any shadows from the camera are lost in the backdrop

Personally - I prefer the top image.

Thanks a lot for the info Micheal. Great stuff. Will try that this weekend. Cheers.

Great photos gang and great tips and hintsGulliver Your photo of the the piers with the ESB towers in the centre is the one I would plump for.StrumI would go for your photo -it gets it's message across .

sent from my PC and typed on a keyboard (old fashioned black colour) using three fingers

Composition and perspective are so important. Why don't the Snappers among us agree on some iconic or familiar landmark in the general Dún Laoghaire area and try to take an image from different points of view. See how many varying and interesting perspectives we can capture. But what landmark?The lighthouses?The Victoria Fountain?The Killiney Obelisk?Maybe one of the Churches?Town Hall?Martello Tower?One of the street sculptures?Other?

It needn't be a competition - just an opportunity for everyone to add to a portfolio demonstrating what perspective is all about.